With
over 300 participants, directed by the New JerseyState
Chess Federation, and sanctioned by the United States Chess Federation,
the Hoboken Chess kids went to the New Jersey 2008 state chess
championship, and again were successful.

Anangh
Kulkarni won a first grade 3rd place championship trophy.

Max
Tamarkin won the 6th grade 1st place Championship trophy.

However
the star of the day was Garrett Chu.

Garrett
went an unprecedented 5-0 to win the overall tournament. Garrett was awarded title of

New Jersey 2008 State Chess champion,

Elementary division.

Vrutik Thakkar finished with a respectful 2 wins and a draw
for 2.5 points.

The Hoboken Chess kids have won
at this event for the past eight years.

Please
join me in congratulating these children on this great accomplishment.

Pete, I was just looking up chess games online and I found a game where Paul Morphy played in Hoboken NJ!!!

"On Sunday, December 6, Morphy visited Eugene Cook in Hoboken, New Jersey, accompanied by Fredrick Perrin,
W. J. A. Fuller and D. W. Fiske. While there, the three visitors played a consultation game against Morphy, which
they won. Cook, a brilliant problemist, was an invalid confined to his house most of the time. When the First American
Chess Congress was published, the frontispeice was a chess problem composed by Cook and "Dedicated with the Highest
Esteem and Admiration to Paul Morphy, the Only." -- Lawson "

Chess In the Media

In the past decade, chess has seen a major resurgence in popularity for America's youth. This trend is readily evident
in Hoboken, where the five-year-old Hoboken Chess Club has evolved into one of the state's premier chess programs.

In an effort to support this movement, the city dedicated three concrete chess tables Wednesday and held a Chess Festival
at Church Square Park. The new tables have been dedicated to Hoboken's own coach and teaching guru, Peter Croce, who founded
the Hoboken Chess Club.

"Chess is gymnastics for the mind," said Croce Wednesday at the dedication. He added that in the past five years, he has
taught over 1,000 children how to play chess, and his students have competed in state chess championships for the past four.

Davor Kolmjenovic, born 60 years ago in Zagreb (Croatia), insists he has beaten the world's number two player Veselin Topalov,
but he still eats with his hands. Kolmjenovic, a grandmaster, makes a living of sorts out of playing chess, but he keeps left-over
bread wrapped in a napkin. He takes night trains, sometimes hiding in the toilet; sleeps wherever he can, taking sustenance
from little fruit packets he buys in food stores.

He makes between €300 and €900 a month, and participates in around 50 chess contests a year, with prizes that
range from €20 to €1,500 for the winner. This "fortune" is shared between the 100 or more grandmasters who currently
play the chess circuit in Spain. Most of them are Russians, Argentines, Cubans, Serbs, Croats, and from various former states
of the Soviet Union.

All of them are ranked among the world's top 300 players, in a sport which requires at least four hours daily practice.
Chess is a mental activity that also demands "soul and spirit, like playing an instrument," according to Chilean Daniel Barrķa.
Barrķa plays no instrument. He's married and has a child. He barely gets by. Barrķa says that this fight for survival at minor
tournaments that give small cash prizes but no points to help climb the international ranking is "a cesspit."

Venturing into uncharted territory has been part of Susan Polgar's repertoire since she was 4. That's what brings her to
Salt Lake City tonight. As a guest at a chess festival named in her honor, the grandmaster will arrive with an agenda to promote
the game, especially for young children and girls.

"I want more exposure for the game. Chess needs somebody out there to speak out on behalf of chess," Polgar says.

The Hungarian native, now a U.S. citizen, will be at the Susan Polgar Chess Festival - which runs through Sunday in various
locations in Salt Lake City.

Do you know of an interesting, humorous, or unique chess story published online? E-mail us at newsletter@uschess.org.

In
the past decade, chess has seen a major resurgence in popularity for America's youth. This trend is readily evident in Hoboken,
where the five-year-old Hoboken Chess Club has evolved into one of the state's premier chess programs.

In an effort
to support this movement, the city dedicated three concrete chess tables Wednesday and held a Chess Festival at Church Square
Park. The new tables have been dedicated to Hoboken's own coach and teaching guru, Peter Croce, who founded the Hoboken Chess
Club.

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"Chess is gymnastics for the mind," said Croce Wednesday at the dedication. He added
that in the past five years, he has taught over 1,000 children how to play chess, and his students have competed in state
chess championships for the past four.

He added that the game improves critical thinking skills and concentration.
He also noted that interest in the game is growing dramatically. In the last year, the United States Chess Federation records
show that its membership has increased to 90,000 members, of which half are school aged children.

Even though the Chess
Club has a permanent location at 334 Park Ave., Croce said that having a table in the park is another opportunity to introduce
children to chess. He said that it is his plan to put chess pieces out every afternoon after school and allow students to
play for free. "They now know that if they want to play chess, then this is the place to come," said Croce.

Young champions

While the many of the Croce's students have had success at the state championships, three in particular have shown their
mettle.

James Arsenault, William Alston, and Liudmil Liudmilov have a combined record of 45 wins, 2 draws, and only
eight loses in the past four years. All three have placed in the top four of their grade each of the past four years.

Alston
has won the top spot once and placed second once. Beck has won the top spot in his grade three times, and Arsenault has played
at the final board for the championship four consecutive years.

Paid for by...

Two of the tables, which cost about $950 each, were paid for by the city. The third was paid for by City Council candidate
Terry LaBruno, according to the city's director of human services, Carmelo Garcia.

Mayor David Roberts said the Hoboken
Chess Club has been a major success in Hoboken. "The skills that chess teaches are ones that greatly benefit children, and
we as a city are happy to add these tables to Church Square Park," Roberts said.

The Hoboken Chess Club is located
at 334 Park Ave. The club offers classes, open play, tournaments and individual lessons, as well as a Chess Summer Camp. For
more information call (201) 232-6741.